Washington Business Fall 2019 | Washington Business | Page 34

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In 2018, research commissioned by
Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC)
reported that Washington’s core space
economy employed more than 2,900
people and generated nearly $1.2 billion
in direct economic output. The cumulative
impact is surprisingly strong: $1.8 billion
in output and 6,200 jobs, with a payroll of
$610 million.
The space sector has “enormous
potential,” says Lisa Brown, director of
the state Commerce Department, building
on the state’s century of aerospace
dominance.
Cataloging the ambitions of commercial
space entrepreneurs would require
volumes. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Blue
Origin, envisions a trillion people living
throughout the solar system. Elon Musk,
whose SpaceX has operations in Redmond, contemplates commercial space flights. Others plan to mine asteroids, launch thousands
of telecommunications satellites or map shifts in oceanic tides from space. For the visionaries, the sky is no limit.
Defining that potential was one reason PSRC initiated the economic research, says Jason Thibedeau, the PSRC’s principal
economic development manager.
High-profile enterprises like Blue Origin and Stratolaunch, a project of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, called attention to
the sector, he says. But local leaders wanted to understand better the size and scale of the commercial space activity.
The analysis revealed a vibrant industry at the intersection of Washington’s tech and aerospace clusters. “With space, it’s a little
bit of a Venn diagram between our aerospace and our IT industry,” says Thibedeau.
BERK, the firm that conducted the research, acknowledges that calculating the economic effects of the space economy can be
challenging because of the overlapping supply chains and commercial
uses of space products and services. To narrow it down, BERK focused
on core elements: original equipment manufacturers, launch service
providers, and satellite support services. The conservative approach most
At A Glance
likely understates the sector’s impacts.
At the intersection of aerospace and
technology, Washington’s space sector
is already making significant economic
contributions. washington firms played pivotal role from the start
https://www.psrc.org/sites/default/files/the_
washington_state_space_economy-nov2018.pdf private sector leadership and opportunities
http://choosewashingtonstate.com/why-washington/
our-key-sectors/aerospace/commercial-space/
34 association of washington business
Boeing was present at the beginning, extending expertise in defense and
aerospace honed over decades. The Boeing Kent Space Center opened
in 1964, just three years after President John F. Kennedy committed the
nation to “landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth.”
Among other pivotal contributions, Boeing built the first stage of the
Saturn V rocket that sent Apollo 11 on its mission to the moon in 1969.
That same year the company began building the lunar rover. (See sidebar
on page 38.)
Astronauts last walked on the moon in 1972. The following years saw the
successes of the space shuttle, International Space Station and Hubble
telescope, but also the tragedies of the Challenger in 1986 and Columbia
in 2003. Public interest waned. Federal priorities changed. NASA funding